A cheque for £20,000 will be presented to the Dean of Brecon Cathedral, the Very Revd Geoffrey Marshall, by the Friends of Cathedral Music (FCM) at the 3.30pm service of Choral Evensong on Sunday 11th October.
The money will be invested and the income generated will be used to increase the salary of the Assistant Organist, with a view to being able to double his hours and consequently the number of Evensong services sung by the choir each week
Commenting on the grant, the Dean said, “This very generous gift from the members of FCM will bring our Cathedral Music Endowment Fund to £600,000, our eventual aim being to raise £1million to secure the future of our musical heritage. Launched in 2002 by the previous Dean, FCM gave an initial grant of £2,000 followed by a further £16,000 the following year. Their latest gift brings the total giving to £38,000.
“Our appeal fund has two main objectives: 1) To help towards the salary of the Assistant Organist, Meirion Wynn Jones, a post which was previously un-salaried and 2) To offer all choristers tuition on a musical instrument and singing in addition to their choral training in the Cathedral choir. ”
Mark Duthie, the Organist and Director of Music, previously at Peterborough Cathedral, took up the position in 2007. Much of his time is spent in forging and maintaining links with local primary schools and enhancing the treble line to consist of an equal number of boys and girls in years 4 to 8. He has developed a structured syllabus carefully designed for Brecon Cathedral.
FCM’s Treasurer, Timothy Rogerson, who will present the cheque to the Dean said, “We are particularly delighted at being able to help Brecon Cathedral. The aim to increase the number of choral services and to strengthen the musical talent which already exists is something FCM regards as worthy of support and meets our objectives in safeguarding the priceless heritage of cathedral music in Britain.
All the subscription income from our members (close on 4,000) is now handed out in grants and in this year alone, we are giving £125,000 to eight cathedrals. Since our foundation in 1956 we have been able to pass on a total of over £1.7million.”
